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Thanks for this info. This is the reason I looked for a forum to join so I could find out more about this. I have Directv and I hate the competitors in my area which are Dish and Charter. So, I guess if Directv doesnt strike a deal then I'll be switching to Dish.

I have Dish and understand they have picked the SEC network up. Is this an additional charge or not? Does anybody know?

Very unlikely, but it could depend on the provider.

ESPN, as it does now, will charge the provider a given amount per subscriber. ESPN is one of the most expensive lineups for providers to carry and I have heard they account for around 20% of your cable bill...so even if you don't care for sports and have a basic package, you help pay for it.

So in all, your bill may increase...but it will be automatic and not something you can really opt out of unless you dropped your package to something basic (i.e. doesn't have ESPN2, ESPNU, etc). It likely won't be an added channel you pay for.

I get the Big10 network down here and don't pay separate for it. It's just lumped all in with the rest of my channel lineup.

ESPN, as it does now, will charge the provider a given amount per subscriber. ESPN is one of the most expensive lineups for providers to carry and I have heard they account for around 20% of your cable bill...so even if you don't care for sports and have a basic package, you help pay for it.

So in all, your bill may increase...but it will be automatic and not something you can really opt out of unless you dropped your package to something basic (i.e. doesn't have ESPN2, ESPNU, etc). It likely won't be an added channel you pay for.

I get the Big10 network down here and don't pay separate for it. It's just lumped all in with the rest of my channel lineup.

I just dropped my TWC package to save a little money and it doesn't have the U. Hopefully it's not too low where I don't get SECN

I doubt they are getting nervous. ESPN is pouring millions into the SEC Network. I'm sure they are in the process of hammering out the details with the big carriers.

ESPN would never have launched the network if they thought there was a snowball's chance in hell it wouldn't happen, too much is on the line.

They pretty much just have to be ironing out the small details of money with the big companies. I mean no Directtv or Fios? I feel like I'm leaving another big company out but can't think of who it might be.

Those companies will catch hell from the south if they don't carry it, and they have to know that.

They pretty much just have to be ironing out the small details of money with the big companies. I mean no Directtv or Fios? I feel like I'm leaving another big company out but can't think of who it might be.

Those companies will catch hell from the south if they don't carry it, and they have to know that.

I dunno I think sports in this country is yet another bubble like housing or the late 90's stock bubble.

It is pretty much a product of how much money cable companies are willing to pay for content.

And as an aside, they charge all their customers in order to subsidize programming that appeals to a subset of those customers.

Cable (and broadcast TV) are in a long term decline in viewership, pretty much due to the internet, both for a competitor in video, and with totally different forms of entertainment.

One day a major sport is going to try to renegotiate a contract, and find there are no bidders at the price they are expecting. Or maybe no bidders.

And that day is going to change everything. If I owned a sports team, I'd sell it ASAP. I have no idea if I'd lose some appreciation by selling short of a "market top," but these things are hard to time. Based on my reading I was pretty sure the housing market was a bubble by 2004 (along with a lot of other people), but it kept on trucking till late 2007.

And the SEC is no different from anything else. You see Devil's Advocate posters (some one brought up major league baseball in a thread I participated in once, though I don't understand what is different with them), but there is no way SEC teams are paying for all this football related infrastructure from ticket sales and concessions. Some teams make good money from merchandise, but I'd bet that is a drop in the bucket compared to TV money.

If sports teams had to make broadcast revenue from some kind of pay per view internet thing, they would go broke or have to adjust in a hurry. And I'm not talking about piracy, I just don't think they could sell 25 million dollars or so in viewership rights over the internet (referring to the SEC here).

Well anyway, it is a little early. But things like Texas high schools building 50,000 seat stadiums on the public dime? That is a bubble sign in my book.